Devils Year 1 Review, Part 3: What I Learned…

To wrap up my season in review, I shall list the many things I learned and experienced this year through a fan standpoint…

-When I first read the roster and saw Louis Robitaille’s name, I cringed. Great, the turtle is coming to town. But once I got to know him and his adorable little boy Kayden, I actually learned to like the guy. Of course he’s still a turtle. And it’s comical how in every road arena there’s always at least the one person who sits at the player entrance and chirps him, knowing full well he’ll insult them back.

-Zac Rinaldo is a douchebag.

-Something tells me after this year Adam Henrique may not come back next season. Very impressed with his first year here, and I know how New Jersey likes to take prospects ASAP (Brian Gionta, Brendan Morrison come to mind from the River Rats days).

-Zack Fitzgerald was the 3rd man in ref! Sorry, had to be there last Saturday to get that joke.

-Not too happy with the Devils organization for making Mike McKenna discontinue his Twitter account. I could have had him following me by now, damnit. Well…or not.

-Zac Rinaldo is a douchebag.

-Best road trip this season for me? Has to be my one overnight trip in January to Wilkes-Barre. Great facility, great game presentation, great fanbase. And I’m not just saying that because I’m friends with 3 of the biggest Pens fans around.

-Most fun event this year had to be the Booster Club Bowlathon in January. For one day it was like hanging out with the guys…from that came Team Perky and the never paid off $100 trick shot bet. And Harry Young actually cracked a smile.

-To the AHL schedule makers: When you plan out Albany-Adirondack games for next year, can they all not be back to back to back? It’s already bad enough we play them 12 times, but can we at least spread it out a little?

-And also on that note, how about at least 2 more games against Connecticut? I think the Devils-Rangers dynamic would draw more interest. And the fact I haven’t been to Hartford since 2007.

-I will give the Devils credit, they did do the postgame autographs a little better than the Rats did. More opportunities, better set up, and instead of missing key people, you had a chance to get everyone. Problem was there were so many autograph sessions I ran out of items for the guys to sign!

-The two third period comeback wins were probably some of the most exciting game activity I have seen in that arena. You never expected this group of guys to come back from 3 goals down the way they did, especially Chad Wiseman getting the 4 straight goals. That will likely never happen again.

-Mattias Tedenby, Jacob Josefson and Mark Fayne, we hardly got to know you and you were gone. You could probably include Nick Palmieri in that group too. That’s what injuries and a dismal start on the parent club will do to affect the affiliation.

-The other day the AHL announced a reduction from 80 to 76 games, eliminating 4-in-5 stretches. Does that also mean not as many 3-in-3 weekends? Players aren’t the only ones trying to get through it, try working the second job and scheduling when you’re writing the previews around all the games.

-Did I mention Zac Rinaldo is a douchebag?

-What started out as a way to get used to the BlackBerry keyboard at the first preseason game in October actually became something I was able to keep up with all season. And made a lot of new friends in the process, from other AHL fans to Devils Army Generals. I thank you all for following along. And for reading this too.